It’s been a full year since we last shared the latest in our continuous journey of innovation with Tagsurance 3. Over the past year, we’ve been hard at work, rolling out several significant updates and enhancements. Now, let’s dive into the most noteworthy advancements that have propelled Tagsurance 3 forward!

Since our last update, Tagsurance 3 has evolved from version 3.5.0 to 3.12.0. That’s more than 10 releases packed with a combination of major feature introductions, minor enhancements, and diligent defect fixes. Our commitment to excellence ensures that every update enhances the accuracy and reliability of quality control for RAIN RFID product lines, from chip attachment and label converting to offline reel-to-reel items.

Here’s a quick overview of some of the most impactful and requested upgrades we’ve made to Tagsurance 3 over the past year:

Tagsurance has now improved tag response detection

Tagsurance SL UHF can consider a tag bad if the tag response is significantly weaker than the responses used to be for good tags tested by the same Tagsurance SL UHF tester. This response level detection, also called backscatter strength detection, improves the test result quality, especially in multilane processes. In the multilane process, the tester’s sensitive receiver may hear a tag response from the simultaneously tested neighbor tags, but this feature prevents a weak response from being interpreted as a good tag response.

Lot management-related improvements

Lot statistics (yield and tag counts) are shown for the current lot. The lot yield is also displayed per lane:

The completed lots are listed with counts and yields and the lot-specific results can be exported:

Support for external lot control via machine IO input: Tagsurance 3 supports an external signal for a lot change. It is possible for the production machine, e.g. turret rewinder, to give an IO signal when the liner is cut and the lot is changed. The lot change position is parametric in Tagsurance 3 and the position can be set according to the location where, for example, the liner is cut. The lot number is added to the tag results as before. When an external lot control is enabled, only a limited set of action triggers are available.

Tagsurance has cut mark feature

Cut mark is a feature that separates lots visually from each other by the markers. Tags marked as cut marks are not counted in any lot.

API trigger in Tagsurance

• API trigger enables customers who integrate Tagsurance 3 via APIs to trigger any active device anytime. This feature is enabled only when a new type of job is running. When the API trigger is enabled, all other trigger sources are disabled and only a limited feature set is enabled.
• Note: We also plan to bring this feature to operator UI shortly.

IO Only station enhancements 

Support for TAL15k jobs: Now three device types: Tagsurance SL UHF, Tagsurance HF, and IO-only devices can be used in systems using TAL15k or DDA serial interface, although one device type at a time.

The delay compensation for IO-only devices added:

Tagsurance 3 can also support configuring if an IO-only station should return only a pass or fail signal. We have introduced a new configuration option for IO-only stations under lane configuration where an IO-only station can be configured to pulse on passing tags or pulse on failing tags. Users have the flexibility to set the deadline for waiting for a pulse. This can be either until the next trigger or a user-defined timeout value.

Puncher improvement

Tagsurance 3 can now configure a puncher-type station to adjust the puncher trigger pulse duration based on the distance in addition to time. Previously, the puncher station applied pressure against the tags based only on a fixed time duration.

Job archiving

The last 50 jobs (as long as 200 M results in total are not exceeded) can be stored and listed in the Operator UI and their CSV exports can be downloaded; note that the system automatically cleans up jobs from the oldest when the total number of jobs exceeds 50 or total number of stored results exceeds 200 million.

UX improvements

• The speed value in the operator UI is shown in red when the machine runs backward and the speed is negative.
• The Units Per Hour value is displayed in the operator UI. The UPH is calculated based on the past time window which can be configured in Tagsurance 3 settings.
• In operator UI, users can increase the step size of fine-tuning offset by 0.5 mm (instead of the earlier 0.1 mm)

Stay tuned as we continue to innovate and enhance Tagsurance 3. Our dedication to providing unparalleled quality control tools for the RAIN RFID industry remains unwavering. Thank you for being a part of our journey!

Notes: The latest Tagsurance 3 version 3.12.0 can be seen here.